The
NASA perserverance rover is a rover that used MOXIE (
Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) to generate a lot of oxygen (122g) from carbon dioxide by splitting it with a catalyst insulated by aerogel.
During the process of separating the oxygen atom, the temperature rises to 798° C. In this regard, MOXIE has received a gold coating and an aerogel. The presence of
heat resistant materials ensures that
heat is retained inside the tool. The Perseverance rover extracted oxygen from carbon dioxide 16 times, leaving carbon monoxide as a byproduct. Oxygen is good not just for future astronauts to breathe, but also to fuel rockets.